Find your niche and set yourself apart from the crowd

LAS VEGAS - How do advisors differentiate in a crowded marketplace? By identifying a niche, building expertise around it, and becoming the go-to resource for a specific audience.

Three advisors described how they found their niche during a presentation at Protectors 2026.

Brock Jolly said he started his insurance career by making 250 cold calls a day before he found his niche. Jolly is managing partner at Veritas Financial.

He knew someone who was giving college funding seminars to parents of high school students, and Jolly began assisting him. But this person left his company unexpectedly, leaving Jolly to present a seminar at the last minute.

After the two-hour seminar, he had 10 sets of parents requesting follow-up appointments. Jolly quickly realized that he no longer had to make 250 cold calls a day.

“A light bulb went off, and that’s how college funding became my niche,” he said.

Families have a sense of urgency about how they will pay for college while trying to save for retirement, Jolly said. Helping families with college funding solutions begins discussions about other topics, such as risk management and protection.

“Advisors aren’t talking to their clients about this,” he said. “It creates an opportunity to open up those conversations.”

The worst night of his career led to a change

Early in his career, Pete D’Arruda, president of Capital Financial Advisory Group, had found a niche working with public school teachers. He eventually moved to conducting seminars for retirees, holding those sessions at an upscale chophouse. But one night, things took a bitter turn.

During his session, a birthday cake was delivered to a table in the room and everyone sitting at the table began singing “Happy Birthday” to one of the attendees. D’Arruda realized the attendees at that table were using his seminar as a birthday party.

“That was my last seminar,” he said. “It was the worst night I ever had. I felt so disrespected.”

D’Arruda eventually approached a small radio station to ask whether he could conduct a call-in show to discuss financial topics. The show took off and D’Arruda began branding himself as “America’s Wealth Coach.”

He still conducts the show, “Financial Safari.”

“Beginning my media company was the best thing I ever did,” he said.

A Match.com environment

Scott Karstens, CEO and founder of Quote-Bot, described the current financial services scene as “a Match.com environment.”

“People go online and decide who they want to work with. That makes it crucial to differentiate yourself,” he said.

Karstens recommended advisors use storytelling to “be different on purpose.”

“I’m a big fan of story,” he said. “If everyone is talking about tax-free retirement or whatever is the current buzzword, it gives you the entrée to talk about that. Prospects and clients need to see themselves going through whatever peril they’re going through, and how you can help them through it.”

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at susan.rupe@innfeedback.com.